GENERAL CASIMIR EHRNROOTH
What is the place and the role of the
born at the Seesta estate close to the Finnish town Nastola General of the
Imperial Russian Army - Casimir Ehrnrooth at his 36 years of age in the
Bulgarian social and political life? This is not a rhetorical question. In fact
it is an attempt by the present book, based exclusively on materials and
documents from the Bulgarian archives, to outline the intensive state activity
of this undoubtedly worthy man. It seems queerly but frankly speaking our
public knows very little about this Prime Minister of Bulgaria. There is one
more reason, which I consider extremely important. This year is marked by two
occasions – 180 years from the birth and 100 years from the death of this
eminent Finn.
To present the activity of General
Casimir Ehrnrooth as a Minister and a Prime Minister is a difficult task, which
could hardly be solved objectively without the published memoirs for him
personally by a number of his contemporaries. Fortunately the distance from the
time today presents us the good opportunity to enter into his statesman
workdays, describing his essential role on the Bulgarian political scene. The
esteemed analyzer during that heavy and contradictory time Simeon Radev gives
one of the most punctual appraisals for the personality of General Casimir
Ehrnrooth: „He was one of those
military men, for whom the supreme duty is expressed in the order of the
superior management and who sees the categorical imperative in a decree…. He was an honest man. Not a single doubt appeared over the carried by him
policy in Bulgaria after such a heavy management, filled with unlawful arbitrary
acts, and he left his name respected”.
Furthermore, following my modest
estimation, I have to add something not less significant. In our
historiography, especially devoted on the life and activity of General Casimir
Ehrnrooth in Bulgaria, one can find out more often the bulky status and the
embarrassing in volume treatment of data and facts, instead of consistent
tracing and analysis of his various political commitments on the basis of
concrete citation of archive documents. In fact the investigation of historical
facts should be done taking into account their value in the course of the past.
Following the accessed by me sources, published on this subject, I was
impressed by the practice in one article or monograph to be mentioned almost in
telegraphic style everything in the diverse activity of General Ehrnrooth. In
the above sentence I used on purpose the verb “mention”, because the decisive
fact behind it is the lack of maximum quotation of the original archive
material – something, which is obligatory in one scientific approach. On one
hand you have to consider his activity as a Prime Minister, on the other – as a
military Minister, on the third place – as a Minister of Interior and on the
fourth – his decisive role in settling the insecurity in East Bulgaria.
In the following pages I will try to
summarize the multifarious deeds of General Casimir Ehrnrooth, which have left
a steady trace in the memory of his contemporaries, proving his extreme
authority. The chronological marking out, grounded totally on archive documents
and materials will allow me, I hope, to reveal in details the outstanding
presence of this respected, honoured in Bulgaria Finn, who rendered utterly his
energy and experience in one of the decisive moments - the building of the
social and political life of a country, breathing freely for two years after
five centuries yoke.
In principle at the end of each book a
conclusion should be placed. It is considered that thus the author tries to put
there the emphasis of his work. For a long time this tendency has turned more
or less into an established institutional tradition. I will try to summarize
from a slightly more different angle the outlined questions at the finale of my
investigation work. Undoubtedly my major aim was to try to study as far as the
archive materials and documents allowed me, to the utmost extent the life and
activity of General Casimir Ehrnrooth in our country. In the course of my work
I soon understood that I enter into quite vast territory, which one deserving
deep respect Finn has built not for himself and not even for the present, but
for the future of Bulgaria. I would like to particularize that these are not
empty words, expressed out of courtesy. For each unprejudiced reader these
pages clearly reveal the extremely effective social and political activity of
General Ehrnrooth, by means of which he, as a statesman, has left behind
himself a constructive heritage in our country. But, by these lines I would like to state also my deep
respect to the Finnish commanders Frederik Hjamar
Nikolai Prokopé (died in the battle around Gorni Dabnik) and Ivan Rosenbohm (died
from his wounds in the battles around Pleven), as well as to all those
thousands Finnish riflemens who left their bones on the Bulgarian battle fields
in the name of our national liberty. When I found in the archives a document,
which accidentally has a connection with the stated above settlements, I was
deeply moved. In the document something sincerely moving was pointed out, which
was a result of the true wish of school boys and girls of three villages in the
Pleven region to help the Finnish veterans from the Russian-Turkish war. Here
is the list of what they succeeded to send:
LIST
of the goods,
collected by the pupils of the villages Gorni Dabnik, Dolni Dabnik and
Krushovitsa in the region of Pleven for the Finnish soldiers, participating in
the Liberation of Bulgaria in 1877-1878 on the occasion of the end of the
school year
Gorni Dabnik village
470 kg beans
70 boxes cigarettes
7 blocks home-made
soap
43 boxes big
cigarettes
2 bottles orange
brandy
20 kg cognac
1 box of matches
Dolni Dabnik
village
6 kg home-made soap
24 Nos. village towels
131 boxes cigarettes
540 kg beans
121 kg flour
100 kg soya flour
120 kg wheat
Krushovitsa
village
50 Nos. home-made
towels
11 kg home-made soap
280 kg beans
15 kg cigarettes
20 boxes cigarettes
30 l brandy
27 boxes big
cigarettes
The value of this extremely kind
donation is quite different. And it might be found at the end of the cited
above document, accompanying the shipment for Finland. There you can find the
following date – 19 June 1942. Maybe there is no need to say that the bloody
massacre during World War II was at its culmination, that the scarcity of goods
and food had spread over our country and despite of that great children hearts
with excitement and without hesitation wished to bow their heads in this
extraordinary way before the feat of arms and self-sacrifice of the Finnish
heroes.
THE AUTHOR
No comments:
Post a Comment